Simon Norton, dressed in a greasy zipped-up outdoor jacket and mud-stiffened trousers, is reclining on the bare mattress in his front room, propped on one elbow like an unkempt bathing belle posing for a seaside snap.
Simon, 58, is a mathematical genius who conforms to so many stereotypes he defies parody. His grey hair stands on end as if electrified, he has a complete disdain for personal grooming, but a passion for tinned fish and public transport. He lives surrounded by hillocks of books.
He is also the subject of a new biography, The Genius In My Basement, by his former tenant, the author Alexander Masters, which considers why the once-famous child prodigy withdrew from the world.
Simon’s IQ was measured as 185 at the age of three (the average is 100; 140 is generally thought to be exceptional). He had mastered his 91 times table by the age of five and, having left Eton and gone on to Cambridge, achieved the required score for a First four times over. Yet he hasn’t held down an academic position since 1985. More...
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Simon, 58, is a mathematical genius who conforms to so many stereotypes he defies parody. His grey hair stands on end as if electrified, he has a complete disdain for personal grooming, but a passion for tinned fish and public transport. He lives surrounded by hillocks of books.
He is also the subject of a new biography, The Genius In My Basement, by his former tenant, the author Alexander Masters, which considers why the once-famous child prodigy withdrew from the world.
Simon’s IQ was measured as 185 at the age of three (the average is 100; 140 is generally thought to be exceptional). He had mastered his 91 times table by the age of five and, having left Eton and gone on to Cambridge, achieved the required score for a First four times over. Yet he hasn’t held down an academic position since 1985. More...
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